What a great idea- chasing people to run faster via scare tactics. Seeing how well this worked in the recently held RUNNING DEAD race at Palms Country Club, I now wonder whether I should apply this method to people I coach…hmm.

Seriously though, the race organizers, Army Navy South Tri, performed way above expectations and went all out with painstaking detail on the make-up, buffet, and overall atmosphere of the event.

For those of you still confused about the concept of the race, the general idea is this: Racers have a belt with 5 “life flags” attached. Zombies are lined up all over the course to try and get their life flags. Those who can finish with the fastest time plus the most number of flags left wins.

The best part about the whole thing is, the proceeds of the run race go towards helping junior triathletes. A race after my own heart!

Let me just end this piece by giving a big round of applause to Betsy and the rest of the Army Navy South Tri Team for a job well done… It was a thrill being part of RUNNING DEAD!

Our first Alaska Ironkids Race for the year is just a few weeks away. The University of Makati offers us a great running track to hold our individual and newly-added run relay races on Feb 19, 2012. Listed below are the race distances, mechanics of the relay events, and race maps. Please make sure to register asap at http://www.ironkidsphil.com/registration2012/

Ironkids Individual Race Distances:

6-8 yo: 1k Run

9-10 yo: 1.5k Run

11-12 yo: 2k Run

13-14 yo: 3k Run

Ironkids Run Relay Categories and Mechanics:

Category 1: 4x400m Mixed Run Relay

1. Age Group: members must be 6-10 years of age.

2. Number of Team Members: 4

3. Gender: Mixed

4. Mechanics: a. Each Team will have four members running 400m (1lap around the track oval) one after the other. b. Each Team will be given a “baton” to hold and pass on to each other as they run around the track. c. In case there is a big volume of participants, organizers will create separate waves, and note down the best time for the winning teams- 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams will be awarded.

Category 2: 4x800m Mixed Run Relay

1. Age Group: members must be 11-14 years of age.

2. Number of Team Members: 4

3. Gender: Mixed

4. Mechanics: a. Each Team will have four members running 800m (2laps around the track oval) one after the other. b. Each Team will be given a “baton” to hold and pass on to each other as they run around the track. c. In case there is a big volume of participants, organizers will create separate waves, and note down the best time for the winning teams- 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams will be awarded.

We recently held a kids-only triathlon camp in Treveia, Alveo Nuvali. This was our last camp for The Next Step Tri Camp Series as we held four other camps for adult triathletes this year to prepare for various races.

The last one turned out to be a really fun event attended by around 25 kids, and we could see that apart from learning cool new triathlon stuff they also wanted to get in some good old hard training sessions. We did a lot of drills and technique work on the first day, and on the second day we had mock races, including a fun triathlon team relay!

We are definitely going to have another one of these kids camps again, what a feel-good weekend!